Red eye after strabismus surgery: community-acquired MRSA periocular infection

Abstract

A 4-year-old boy with A-pattern alternating exotropia presented to the Duke Eye Center with conjunctival injection and eyelid inflammation 3 weeks following strabismus surgery and a normal postoperative course. Examination in the office demonstrated an elevated, cream-colored lesion of the superotemporal fornix of the left eye. This surgical video demonstrates the incision and drainage of the presumed subconjunctival abscess of the left eye. Cultures from the eye and two cutaneous lesions on the patient’s extremities grew methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , indicating that a community-acquired MRSA skin infection had likely seeded the distant ophthalmic surgical site.